WAMECA 2025 opens in Accra to honour African journalists
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has commenced the 8th edition of the West Africa Media Conference Awards (WAMECA).
The three-day conference is aimed at deliberating on emerging media development issues, as well as rewarding and inspiring exceptional West African journalists who have produced compelling stories that have significantly impacted society.
Speaking on the theme ‘Journalism and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in Africa’, Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Sulemana Braimah, said digitalisation is now becoming the centre of every profession, and African journalists must take the opportunity to use it to their advantage.
“This conference has become the biggest convening for reflections about journalism and media in West Africa and around the world, and digital technology is shaping how we tell stories now. It is, however, necessary that as journalists, we use this to our own good to serve humanity and promote cohesion.
“Digital public infrastructure (DPIs) are becoming the foundations of modern economies. We are witnessing the power and promise of how DPIs can expand access to services, enable trade, empower small businesses, and include the millions of people who have long been excluded from formal financial systems,” he stated.
Mr Braimah, however, called for transparency and safe use of digital services to serve humanity.
“But let us be clear, no matter how sophisticated a piece of technology is, it cannot be a driver of development if it is not accompanied by the fundamental essentials of trust, transparency, inclusion, privacy, and all other fundamentals of human rights,” he noted.
The 8th edition of the West Africa Media Conference Awards (WAMECA) will be held on Saturday, 11 October at the Alisa Hotel, with awardees drawn from various West African countries.
